Leaf curing machinery



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LEAF CURING MACHINERY Filed Nov. 20, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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Dec. 2 1965 D. PREWHTT 3924?@3 LEAF GURING MACHINERY Filed Nov. 20, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 United States Patent 3,224,603 LEAF CURIN G MACHINERY David Prewitt 304 W. 3rd St., Lexington, Ky. Filed Nov. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 325,022 Claims. (Cl. 214-55) This invention relates to farm machinery and has particular reference to curing of tobacco leaves. It comprises a machine for tying individual tobacco leaves so that they are evenly distributed along both sides of a tobacco stick. (A tobacco stick is approximately one inch square and 51 inches long.)

Most tobacco grows from the top of the stalk. This means that the lirst leaves remain at the bottom of the stalk and are exposed to the elements for a much longer time than the upper leaves. These bottom leaves become ripe much sooner than the top leaves-before it is time to harvest the upper part of the stalk. Because of the nonuniform ripening time for the leaves on a stalk of tobacco, much of the bottom leaves is lost. This is emphasized by the names given to the lower leaves of Burley tobacco such as flyings and trash In the past, these leaves have either been harvested with the entire stalk or they have been primed (pulled) separately and either spread out to cure or they have been hand tied individually along a string and hung up in a barn to cure.

In any case, the l process is time consuming and generally provides inadequate uniformity of curing.

The difliculties experienced in the past, as outlined above, are greatly mitigated by this invention whose major objects are noted below:

(a) Reduce the labor required to cure primed leaves of tobacco.

(b) Improve curing by uniformly distributing the tobacco leaves along the supporting stick.

(c) The leaves which ripen first may be primed and cured first followed by other progressively ripening leaves. This is so because of the advantages obtained through items (a) and (b) above.

(d) Reduce the overall calendar time required to cure primed tobacco leaves. This is accomplished by the uniformity of distribution of the leaves along each side of the stick which permits uniform ventilation to the individual `leaves.

In addition, it is my purpose to have the sticks with their complement of leaves progress into and/or through an oven circulating warm dry air. The ends of the sticks of tobacco, illustrated in FIGURE 16, will automatically be directed to side rails right and left which will be contained in an oven. When in the oven the sticks will be parallel and separated a proper uniform distance to best accomplish the highest operating eiciency comprising quality and costs. Any known suitable mechanism may be used to accomplish the desired results. The distance between the sticks, the rate of travel in the oven, the temperature of the oven, the method of circulating and drying the air in the oven, and the time that the tobacco will remain in specific environments will be determined by nal experiments; known mechanisms and devices will be employed to attain the desired results.

(e) Provide a machine Which will not only accomplish the objects set forth above for curing tobacco but also a machine which can, with suitable modifications made by one skilled in the art, accomplish similar results for other commodities which can utilize the benefits of this invention. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, and accompanying drawings wherein the preferred form of embodiment of the .invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a left side rear perspective view of the mechanism.

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FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail, indicated by the dot and dash circle II in FIGURE 1, of the means for moving the stick along a track.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section of the stick driving chain illustrated in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a left upper front perspective view of the mechanism partly broken away.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the mechanism for holding the tobacco leaf as indicated by the dot and dash circle V in FIGURE 4. It is shown in the position preparatory to receiving a stern of a tobacco leaf.

FIGURE 6 is another illustration of the mechanism indicated by the dot and dash circle VI in FIGURE 4 and similar to the mechanism of FIGURE 5; however, FIG- URE 6 illustrates how the device holds a leaf of tobacco.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the mechanism taken along line VII-VII of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view of the mechanism taken along line VIII-VIII of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged top view, partly broken away, of the mechanism for holding, positioning, and releasing the tobacco stem adjacent the traveling stick. It also illustrates the means of cocking the stem holding linger. FIGURE 9 is generally taken along line IX-IX of FIGURE 4.l

FIGURE 10 is a front sectional view, taken along line X--X of FIGURE 9, of the stick and adjacent parts.

FIGURE l1 is a side elevation View, partly in section,

`of the mechanism for tying the individual stems and taken along line XI-XI of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 12 is a front elevation view of the mechanism illustrated in FIGURE-11.

FIGURE 13 is a plan view, partly in section, of the mechanism of FIGURE 11 and taken along line XIII- XIII of FIGURE 11. The directing head of the tying mechanism is at the beginning of the tying cycle on the left side of the stick.

FIGURE 14 is a view similar to the view of FIGURE 13 except that the tying head is at the end of the tying c cle.

yFIGURE 15 is a View similar to the views of FIG- URES 13 and 14 except that the directing head of the tying mechanism has moved to the opposite side of the stick and is starting back into position so as to make a tie on the right side of the stick.

FIGURE 16 is a perspective View, partly broken away, of a stick having leaves of tobacco tied uniformly to each side as it will appear when leaving the machine.

Detailed description of invention The stick 5 of FIGURE 1 is moving through the machine as indicated by the arrow while the tobacco leaves L are moved along with the stick (right to left) (as indicated in FIGURES 4 and 9) while being tied with the tier head T (illustrated in FIGURES 4, 11 and 12). The tier head assembly T has a cyclic movement which is parallel to the stick such that it is moving forward with the stick while it is in the process of tying the leaf to the stick. This unit moves back in preparation for tying a leaf on the other side of the stick immediately after a tie is completed. The leaves are manually fastened into cocked fingers on each side of the machine as shown in FIGURES 4 and 9. The assembled sticks are led off into suitable curing facilities.

The sticks S are placed onto a chain 2 between guides 3. The aft end of the stick S rests adjacent to chain lugs 4. A motor 14 drives a V-belt 12 through a pulley 13 which drives a jack shaft 10 through a pulley 11. A pulley 9 is secured to the opposite end of the jack shaft 10 and -it drives a V-belt 8 which drives a pulley 7 which is at- 3 tached to a shaft 6. The shaft 6 is supported in suitable bearings (one shown at 20). A sprocket 5, which is fixed to the shaft 6, meshes with the chain 2 to drive it at the desired speed.

The right end of the shaft 6 is attached to a bevel gear 19 which drives a vertically oriented bevel gear 21 attached to a vertical shaft 31. The vertical shaft 31 turns in bearings 22 and 30. A gear wheel A is attached to the upper end of the shaft 31 to drive tier gear B and idler gear C. The idler gear C is mounted on a shaft 29 which is supported on a bearing 28. The idler gear C is meshed with a gear D which, in turn, meshes with a gear E. The directions of rotation of the gears A, B, C, D and E are noted by arrows. The gear D rotates in the opposite direction to that of the gear E.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the location of the stick S in relation to the chain lug 4. This figure also shows the location of a dummy pin 18 at the aft end of the stick S. A similar pin 18a is located on the opposite side of the stick S at the entering end. Both locations of the dummy pins 18 and 18a are illustrated in FIGURES 1, 4 and 16. The dummy pins 18 and 18a carry a circumferentially wrapped piece of double backed tape BT which will be suitable for retaining the tying string in place at each end of the stick in case it is desired to retain the assembled sticks as individual entities yet not have the tying string loosen its tie on the tobacco stems that it retains.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the forward portion of the machine, where, the tobacco leaves L are brought to each side of the sticks S and where the tie is made. The intermeshing gears D and E rotate shafts 35 and 36, which are supported in bearings 37 and 38 and carry sprockets 57 and 57a at their lower extremity. As shown in FIG- URE 9, the sprockets 57 and 57a drive chains 61 and 61a, respectively, around idler sprockets 69 (see FIGURE 4) supported on main frame 70.

Each of the chains 61 and 61a carries twenty-live stem holders 41 and each chain is equipped with one blank holder 55 which corresponds to the location of the dummy pins 18 and 18a on each side of each of the sticks S. This provides for placing twenty-five tobacco leaves on each side of each of the sticks S. Each leaf is placed approximately 2 apart and staggered l" so that leaves on opposite sides of the stick S are staggered as illustrated in FIGURES l, 4, and 16. The speed of movement of the chains 61 and 61a is such that tobacco stems 32 and 33, which are carried on the holders 41, will approximate the linear speed of the stick S when the stems 32 and 33 are adjacent the stick S while being tied in place with the tier assembly T to be described later.

The leaf holders 41 and their method of operation are illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The leaf holder 41 comprises an outer box frame which is attached to the chains 61 and 61a at a link which carries arms 56 illustrated in FIGURE 9. This illustration shows a riveted connection at 56a.

The box frame carries a fixed finger 42 and a pivoted finger 43 which is biased in a manner to grip the stem 32 or 33 by a forcing spring 48 illustrated in FIGURE 5 to 8 inclusive. A tripping plate 44 is xed to a bar 45 which is pivoted to a tripping arm 50 at pivot 46. The tripping arm 50 is pivoted to the outer box 41 at 53.

A compression spring 49 forces the tripping arm or lever 50 and its appended bar 45 and tripping plate 44 away from the chains 61 and 61a so that the finger 43 will be latched in its open or receiving position whenever the finger or lever 43 is moved away from the lever 42 a sufficient distance to permit the edge 52 of the lever 43 to come in line with an offset 51 of the tripping lever 50.

In operation, the operator trips the gripping lever 43 by pushing against the tripping plate 44 when he places the tobacco stern 32 or 33 between the fingers 42 and 43. This action compresses the spring 49 and the tripping lever 50 moves about its pivot 53. When the offset 51 of the tripping lever 50 passes the end 52 of the finger 43, the

finger 43 is forced to rotate about its pivot 47 by the spring 48 thereby gripping the stems 32 for the left side or the stems 33 for the right side of the stick S.

The finger 43 carries a downward projecting part 43a which is brought against upward projections 3a of the guides 3 when the tie of the leaf stem 33 or 32 has just been completed. Further movement of the holder 41 around its cycle causes the finger 43 to move away from the stationary finger 42. As the finger 43 moves about its pivot 47 and as the holder 41 moves about the center of the shaft 35 or 36, respectively, for left or right side of the machine, the projecting lug 43a moves off the edge of the projection 3a of the guide rails 3. At this point, the finger 43 is held in its receiving or cocked position by reason of its projection 52 moving along the offset 51 of the tripping lever 50. In this case the tie will be completed at the instant that the fingers 42 and 43 start to separate. The right hand assembly of FIGURE 9 shows a dummy link 55 of the chain 61a which corresponds with the dummy pin 18a.

The tobacco leaves L may be inserted in between the lingers 42 and 43 of the holder 41 at any convenient part of the chain cycle but it is preferable that this loading function be accomplished at the front side of the cycle of the chains 61 and 61a. Here the loading operators have more time to make the insertions and there is less structure to interfere with their operations.

The tying operation is carried out by the tying head T illustrated in FIGURE 4. FIGURE 1l shows a side elevation of the tying head T and FIGURE 12 shows a front elevation of the tying head T. The gear B is fixed to the top of a shaft 34 which projects through the assembly having near its lower end a cut out section which allows for the insertion of a crank arm 73 which pivots on a bearing pin 72 which also acts to join the upper and lower sections of the shaft 34.

A crank rod 74 of the crank arm 73 is pivoted to a slide member 76 at 75. A gear 58 is secured to the shaft 34 through a screw 64 of a collar 62. The gear 58 is meshed with a gear 59 in such a manner that the gear 58 makes two turns for one turn of the gear 59. The gear 59 is secured to a shaft 71 through a screw 65 in a collar 63. The shaft 71 carries an upper cam 77, which activates rotation of a tying cone 88, and a lower cam 78, which activates side to side movement of a directing head and` the tying cone 88.

The tying assembly T is bolted to the main frame by bolts 67a which secure ange members 67 fiush against the web of a beam 24 (see FIGURE 4). Shims may be used between the tie head assembly T and the web of the beam 24 in order to align the tying head T into proper position.

The slide member or assembly 76 moves forward and aft approximately l" each time a tobacco stem or dummy tie is made. It is guided in its motion by recesses 76a in the slide member 76 and by mating projections in the stationary frame of the assembly T.

As shown in FIGURES 13-15, the cam 77 has two engaging members 98 and 99 and the cam 78 has two engaging members 100 and 101. The left side members 98 and 100 are pivoted on a post 96. The right side members 99 and 101 are pivoted on a post 97.

Each of the members 98-101 is backed up individually by a spring which maintains the members 98 and 99 in contact with the cams 77 and the members 100 and 101 in contact with the cam 78. Springs 107 and 108 are for the left side members or levers 98 and 100, respectively, and springs 109 and 110 are for the right side members or levers 99 and 101, respectively. The other end of these actuating levers carry gear racks which when activated by their associated cam causes the subject rack to engage a mating gear. In this manner the upper cam 77 causes one of its associated levers 98 and 99 to engage a pinion 83, which is mounted on a shaft 82 fixed to a large gear 114 that rotates a pinion gear 84.

The tier cone 88 is fixed to the pinion gear 84 through a hollow shaft 84a, a bushing tube 86, and a tightening nut 87 held tight with a lock-washer 87a. The above assembly rotates within the directing head or block 85. This mechanism causes a string 60 to make two turns around the stems 32 or 33 according to left or right side of the machine. The directing block 85 swings right and left about the center of the shaft 82 so as to place the center of the tying cone 88 substantially directly over the tobacco stem being tied. This action is synchronously accomplished by action of the lower cam 78 actuating the rack levers 100 and 101 so as to cause them to engage a gear 115. Since the lever 100 or 101 is pivoted to the stationary frame at its pivot 96 or 97, respectively, and since the gear 115 is carried on the slide member 76, the gear 115 is caused to rotate about its center as represented by the shaft 82. The gear 115 is fixed to the directing head 85; therefore, the direction head 85 is caused to move from side to side according -to which of the lever racks 100 or 101 is in engagement and as to whether the motion of the hand is forward or aft.

FIGURE 11 shows a plunger member 92 vertically moveable in a tube 93. A compression spring 94 in the tube 93 keeps the plunger 92 engaged at its upper end. This plunger assembly is attached to the frame 68 of the assembly T.

FIGURES 13, 14 and 15 illustrate the lever system discussed above in more detail. FIGURE 13 shows the beginning of making a tie on the left side of the stick S. The crank arm 73 is in its furthermost aft position and it is just beginning its forward stroke. The cam 77 has just completed engaging lthe rack member 99 with the pinion gear 83. The plunger 92 is at the forward end of its mating groove 91. The plunger 92 and its mating groove 91 assist in keeping the directing head 85 vin its proper position on the right or left side of the stick S while the tie is being performed. In addition, limiting stops (not shown) are provided to limit the swinging motion ofthe directing block 85.

As the crank arm 73 moves the slide 76 forward along the rack 99, the pinion 83 rotates to cause the gears 114 and 84 to rotate. Actually the rack 98 would serve the same purpose as the rack 99 except that here the gear 84 would rotate in the opposite direction. Also a small moment would be applied to the directing head assembly 85 which would tend to retain the unit against its stop during the tieing cycle. For this latter configuration the cam 77 would be advanced 180 degrees.

The foregoing discussion explains that when the rack 99 engages the pinion gear 83 on a forward stroke 0f the slide 76, the tier cone 88 rotates in one direction and when the rack 98 engages the pinion 83 the tier cone 88 rotates in the opposite direction. Thus, the racks 98 and 99 engage the pinion gear 83 on alternate forward strokes of the tier cone 88.

The racks 100 and 101 cause the directing head assembly 85 to swing to the right or left during its return stroke. When the rack 100 is engaged the directing head 85 will be rotated to the position illustrated in FIGURE by the time it has reached its most aft position as illustrated in FIGURE 13. FIGURE 15 does not illustrate any one configuration of the invention but rather several as indicated above. FIGURE 14 illustrates the end of the tieing stroke. The cam 77 is moving away from the actuating arm of the rack 99 so that the rack 99 disengages by action of the spring 109 immediately following the position illustrated in FIGURE 14. Also at this time the cam 78 engages actuating arm of the rack so as to engage the rack 100 with the gear illustrated in FIGURE 15. During the aft stroke, the rack 100 rotates the gear 115 in a clockwise direction causing the directing head assembly 85 to rotate from the position illustrated in FIGURES 13 and 14 to the position illustrated in FIGURE 15; however, instead of being in its most advanced position as illustrated, it will be in its most aft position such as shown in FIGURE 13. The action of swinging the directing head assembly 85 to the other side (alternately) is accomplished when the cam 78 engages the actuating arm of the rack 101 during an appropriate aft stroke of the directing head assembly 85. During the cycle of moving the directing head 85 from side to side, the plunger 92 may move out of either branch of the groove 91 so that in moving from the position illustrated in FIG- URE 13 to the position illustrated in FIGURE 15 the plunger 92 may move more directly between these two positions. The spring 94, backing up the plunger 92, will permit such motion. I may also provide a widened groove to facilitate this action.

I anticipate that my tobacco curing machine may be made different than the illustrations and still fall within the disclosed invention. For example, the tobacco sticks upon which the alternate right and left hand assembled tobacco leaves rest may take the form of substantially continuous cords, cables, or wires or any suitable mounting member for supporting the leaves while in the curing process. Also the curing oven which follows the machine may be any l`suitable form which accommodates the mounting member or members. This might be an elongated oven with continuous passage from the machine through the oven.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A tieing head comprising drive means, cam means driven by said drive means, first and lsecond rack means operatively associated with said cam means, pinion and gear means engaging said rack means, a tier gear driven by rotation of said pinion and gear means, and a tier cone operatively connected to said tier gear.

2. A tieing head as described in claim 1 in which said tier cone has an alternating parallel motion, and an alternating twisting motion whereby to attach leaf stems to a string.

3. A tieing head in accordance with claim 1 in which said pinion and gear means are driven in reciprocating motion.

4. A tieing head in accordance with claim 1 in which said tier cone has a swinging motion.

5. A tieing head in accordance with claim 4 including means for retaining said tier cone at or near its swinging motion limits.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,538,698 1/1951 McNeill 214-55 2,682,342 6/1954 Tonton 214-55 2,713,427 7/1955 Krist 214-55 2,794,537 6/ 1957 Holliday 198-179 2,891,658 6/1959 Long 198-179 2,904,193 9/ 1959 Poythress 214-5.5 2,904,194 9/1959 Jones 214-55 2,933,206 4/1960 Alphin 214-55 2,952,371 9/1960 Smith 214/5.5 3,105,713 10/1963 Hassler 294-5.5

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

MORRIS TEMIN, HUGO O. SCHULZ, Examiners. 

1. A TIEING COMPRISING DRIVE MEANS, CAM MEANS DRIVEN BY SAID DRIVE MEANS, FIRST AND SECOND RACK MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CAM MEANS, PINION AND GEAR MEANS ENGAGING SAID RACK MEANS, A TIER GEAR DRIVEN BY ROTATION OF SAID PINION AND GEAR MEANS, AND A TIER CONE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID TIER GEAR. 